April 19, 2007

New Section 8 rules

They're loud, they're rowdy, and they'd boo their own brother if he were on the other team.

Section 8 clearly loves the Fire, but the Fire has put this relationship to the test with this email sent out today:

"Beginning April 27, 2007 any ticketholder in possession of a ticket for Section 118 (8) must enter through Gate C for all Fire games at Toyota Park. Please enter the stadium through the swing gate that is furthest west (towards Gate B) and understand that you will be subject to search, including a pat down by Toyota Park security staff."

I don't want to comment too much on this until I hear both sides, but if you guys want to share your thoughts at this time, post them below.

Comments

I'm all for Section 8, I stand in 118 when I go to games, but I also understand the concern of management. As a fan, I've often thought that the Fire didn't understand the nature of a support group. But, the levels of violence seen around the world this year, as well as the expected increase in attendance with the Blanco signing, I can understand why Guppy would be worried.

Is it excessive? Probably, but isn't it better to annoy everyone and not have an incident than to have a huge fight break out between Mexican fans in the sections around 118 and Section 8 diehards?

As for smoke bombs, in a stadium the size of Bridgeview, they are really disruptive. We're not talking the upper tiers of the San Siro here. It's Toyota Park. You could practically jump from one side to the other.

At my core, though, I wish that they'd just get rid of all security and let the fans do whatever they feel like.

I LOVE the section 8 crowd. They make the game. It would be great to have a section on both sides of the stadium like section 8. I have to admit I am a new soccer fan so if i am off base I apologize. The only thing I thought was a bit out of line in the opener was the smoke bomb by Matt Reiss.

it is difficult for me to take them seriously about eliminating smoke bombs when you watch DC United games and their fans and their smoke shows are continuously touted as ‘the standard’ by the league, ESPN, and anyone else with a pulse. Chicago fans are merely trying to live up to ‘the standard’ and show they are the equal (if not better) than DC fans. Who can blame them?

ps: the smokebomb by matt reis was only there because security MOVED it there to put it out.

It's unfortunate that the team would target a specific section for pat-downs. That could lead to some resentment among those of us who purchased season tickets in 118. (With some forewarning, I would have just bought tickets in 117 to avoid being touched by a stranger at every game).

At the same time, I hope it turns out to be a minor inconvenience. I wish they would either extend the pat-down to all fans or no fans, but that shouldn't stop Section 8 from doing what it does best -- cheering in full voice for the full 90 minutes.

In the future, Section 8 will continue to work with the team to create organized, controlled and supervised flares and smoke. If we reach that point, you should see a dramatic drop-off in unsupervised smoke in the section.

They haven't done anything this stupid since they fired Peter Wilt. I don't see how this security measure will be effective at doing anything other than make the most loyal and ardent supporters feel less welcome in Toyota Park.

About Luis

I never heard my dad talk about sports at the dinner table while growing up. In fact, it took Michael Jordan three championships for my Dad to stop mixing him up with Michael Jackson.

But I owe my passion for soccer, as well as my hard-to-pronounce last name, to my dad (it's pronounced R. O. Yah Veh, by the way). He insisted on raising my brother, sister, and me with his and my mom's Colombian culture. With that came soccer.

That's not to say I didn't follow other sports. Dan Marino, after all, was my childhood hero. But soccer gave me a connection with my roots that I rarely had growing up in Highland Park, Ill.

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in English and got my first break when I landed an internship with men's magazine, FHM. Exactly one year later, I joined the Tribune in September of 2005.